Fact check: Was there no other president that built mass transit projects aside from Marcos?

Photo courtesy of Rappler and Facebook

An online post went viral after claiming that there were no mass transit projects build following the former President Ferdinand Marcos’ term.

According to the online post, no other president was able to build mass transit projects to help the commuters after Marcos.

“Tama si Panelo! Yung mga sumunod kay Marcos, special mention kay Cory Aquino, Fidel Ramos, Noynoy Aquino, hindi manlang nagpatayo ng mga proyekto kagaya ng Mass Transit Projects,” it said in the caption of a post.

“Walang ibang ginawa kundi ilagay ang mikha ni Ninoy sa 500, palitan ang mga proyekto ni Marcos sa pangalan ni Ninoy, at di pa nakontento! Nagpatayo pa ng sangkatutak na mga rebulto ni Ninoy Aquino,” it added.

The said post also states that only the current President Rodrigo Duterte is making a solution to solve the dreaded traffic in the country by building huge infrastructure projects.

“Kaya ang resulta ayon! Traffic ngayon! Si Pres. Duterte lang ang gumawa ng paraan para magpatayo ng mga malalaking proyekto,” it read.

However, an online news website Rappler claimed that this online post was misleading. It is not true that only the late Ferdinand Marcos built projects for the country’s mass transit system. 

Despite the current state of Metro Manila’s public transport system, several other presidents after him developed public transportation projects that are used by Filipinos today.

According to Rappler, Mass transit is defined as transportation for large numbers of people. This includes trains, buses, subways, and other modes of public transportation.

Currently, Metro Manila has Metro Rail Transit (MRT Line 3), Manila Light Rail Transit System (LRT), and Philippine National Railways (PNR).

The PNR was opened in 1891, before the Marcos regime. The LRT Line 1 started its operations during the time of Marcos in 1984. Meanwhile, the LRT 2 and MRT Line 3 were developed after Marcos was ousted.

The administration of former President Fidel V. Ramos constructed the MRT Line 3 in 1997. It officially opened in 1999, during the stint of former President Joseph Estrada.

While the LRT Line 2, also started its construction during the term of President Ramos. It only opened during the administration of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2003.

The premium point-to-point (P2P) buses were launched in 2015 during the term of former President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III,.

And now, under the Duterte administration, there are at least 6 new railways that are expected to be created under his “Build. Build. Build.” Project.

Source: KAMI